Isolation valve with rotatable flange

Abstract

A valve assembly, including a quarter turn ball valve, an insert carried by the valve housing, and a flange, rotatably carried on the insert. The flange is used to secure the valve assembly in a fluid system and the assembly and disassembly of the valve assembly is facilitated by the adjustable position of the flange.

Description

[0001] This application is a Division of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 721,481, filed Nov. 25, 2003 (pending), which is a Continuation-In-Part application of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 337,498, filed Jan. 7, 2004 now abandoned.FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0002] This invention is in the field of valves, and specifically relates to adjustable flanges for securing isolation valves in a fluid system. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0003] The use of circulator pumps to move fluid in closed-loop hot water systems is widespread. When a circulator pump needs to be temporarily removed from the system for repair, replacement, or maintenance, the system must be opened to the atmosphere. This procedure may require the system to be shut down and completely, or at least partially, drained before the pump can be removed. Depending on the size of the system, draining and then refilling can be a time consuming process. Additionally, shutting down the system during this time may be undesirable. [0004]FIG. 3...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0013] Another embodiment of the present invention comprises a valve assembly including a ball valve and a check valve. The ball valve includes a valve housing having an inlet port and an outlet port and a valve member adapted to control flow therethrough. The check valve prevents fluid flow from the inlet port to the outlet port when an associated fluid system is unpressurized.

Problems solved by technology

Depending on the size of the system, draining and then refilling can be a time consuming process.

Additionally, shutting down the system during this time may be undesirable.

Many of the fluid system components for which the use of isolation valves is desirable are heavy and / or cumbersome and in many applications may be located in areas with little space.

This may make removal and replacement of these components difficult.

This may be difficult in tight spaces with heavy, cumbersome components.

In some cases the considerations may be even more important than in hot water systems due to the danger and / or expense attendant to handling the fluids contained within the systems during draining of the fluid.

If it is not clear whether the valve is open or closed, removal of the isolated component may be attempted with an isolation valve only partially closed, which may lead to leakage of fluid from the system or contamination of the system.

This design makes it difficult to determine with certainty if the isolation valve is fully closed, or fully open.

However, gravity flow, also referred to as ghost flow, is undesirable for contemporary water heating systems as it leads to overheating of zones.

Without flow control valves, uncontrollable heating of zones in a building may occur.

These flow control valves are additional components in the heating system that are themselves expensive and add the additional expense of installation.

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